Featured Domains

Idea is to change from .com to another TLD depending on what you type.

Phone maker Blackberry has filed a patent application with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for a predictive and dynamic top level domain name key.

We’ve all used the .com key found on many Android devices and previously on Apple phones and tablets. Recent Apple changes now make you press and hold the “.” key to enter .com or select from a list of other extensions.

Blackberry’s idea is to make the .com or similar key change based on a prediction of which domain name intent to visit.

For example, if you start typing in CBC, the phone or other device might change the touchscreen .com key to .ca (since CBC is short for Canadian Broadcasting Corporation).

Since Blackberry is known for phones with keypads, it also shows a way to show a dynamic TLD on the screen with a fixed TLD key on the keyboard.

I imagine if you’re in the U.S. the key would start as .com and change based on what you type. For example, if you start typing “wikip”, it might switch to .org for Wikipedia. Or it could wait until the full second level portion is typed before suggesting a TLD other than .com.

Although the patent doesn’t contemplate new TLDs, I suspect that if a .guru website becomes really popular at some point (or if you visit one frequently), the dynamic key might change to .guru if the TLD database thinks you’re going to the .guru site. (I think the touchscreen key example would be limited to shorter TLDs. It would require a lot of key size changing for a top level domain like .computer.)

When it comes to getting bang for your buck in domain name arbitration, Research in Motion may have just set the bar. In a single UDRP case filed at World Intellectual Property Organization, the BlackBerry maker won 101 domains (and was denied 10 others).

BlackBerry filed the complaint against Georges Elias, who registered all 111 domains at GoDaddy. Elias’ imaginative registration spree included domains such as alwaysbetonblackberry.com, blackberryonice.com, and onceyougoblackberryyouwillnevergobackberry.com (no joke).

The panel decided that Research in Motion should get 101 of the domains, but denied 10 domains that focus on ‘berry’ rather than ‘blackberry’, such as mommyberry.com and berrydelsol.com.

Elias alleged that Research in Motion used Tucows’ (AMEX: TCX) Yummy Names division to approach the respondent about purchasing one of the domain names, insideblackberry.com, but never told Tucows that it was secretly enlisting it to gather evidence for its case. Elias alleged that Tucows said Research in Motion “procured Yummy Names’ services under false pretenses”, however the arbitrator decided there was no need to consider this.